Concept construction must explicitly decide how much each dimension weighs

Evidence

It seems reasonable to assume that for most phenomena some secondary-level dimensions are more important than others. Particularly if one takes a functionalist ontology, some parts of the whole are more crucial (e.g., necessary) than others. Some might be essential while others only facilitate. In any concept-building enterprise one must directly address at the theoretical level the question of weighting. The advantage of the correlational approach is that statistical techniques along with the data automatically generate weights. The key point is that when constructing a concept the question of weighting needs to be specifically addressed. — Gary Goertz, Social Science Concepts, 309

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to composite-index work like the Polity or V-Dem democracy scores, where aggregation rules silently set the meaning of the result.